Donald Trump's return to the White House could boost German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's re-election chances and thwart his opponent Friedrich Merz, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), writes Bloomberg.
According to the agency, Merz's advisers believe that this could change the electoral balance and give Scholz the image of a defender of democracy. According to Bloomberg, Scholz managed to present himself as a “defender of democratic values against American rhetoric“ at the federal congress of the Social Democratic Party of Germany in Berlin on Saturday. Commenting on Trump's claims to Greenland, Scholz said that according to Western values, "borders should be inviolable" and "no country is another's backyard." At the same time, both leading powers are concerned about the growing popularity of the Alternative for Germany party, which is also supported by Elon Musk. At the end of December, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, after a vote of no confidence in the Chancellor in the Bundestag, decided to dissolve parliament and call early elections for February 23, 2025.